Trisha smiled down at Paige, who looked back up at her pouting cutely. Paige was so sweet and caring, two traits very uncommon in their species and looked down upon. Being a good person was seen as a weakness to Ctarl-Ctarl’s ands believed to undermine their rule of the galaxy. Most people treated Paige like a pariah because of that, thus she had low self-esteem. Trisha never saw Paige as weak or disgraceful, her loving nature was unique and should be seen not as a flaw, but rather a gift. She was able to make the people closest to her happy, putting them before herself. Trisha could never see why anyone could hate another person simply for that. Trisha loved Paige, like all the other brothers and sisters she had at the orphanage and she would do anything Paige wanted.

Placing both hands on Paige’s shoulders, Trisha’s smile widened.

“Don’t worry Paige, I’ll help you.”

“Thank you,” Paige whispered, falling back on her bed in relief. Everything was going to be alright, Trisha would take care of it and Jim would never see her in this condition. She needed him to think of her as a human if they were going to have a relationship, it was the only way it would work. If he saw her belly, Jim would just see her as another ravenous monster like that horrible commander.

“Hey, it’s alright. I’d do anything to help you, Paige.”

“Still, thank you.”

“No problem,” Trisha mumbled, slowly she backed away towards the door. Still facing Paige smiling, she opened the door, showing Jim standing there patiently.

“Trisha, how’s Paige do…” Before he finished, Paige grabbed him by the collar and threw him into Paige’s room. He stumbled forward several steps, but retained his footing. He turned his head to look at Trisha who only waved back before closing the door. As Jim looked back at the door in confusion, Paige sat up in bed, her face pale and visibly shaking. Her eyes focused on Jim and shakily she mumbled, “Why?”

Trisha was leaning against the door, head slumped forward and eyes closed. What she’d done was sneaky and cruel, but it needed to be done. Paige might hate her for betraying her trust, but the kid would get over it. If she didn’t face her own fears concerning Jim, it was going to eat her up. This act of betrayal would either toughen Paige up or give her a new sense of confidence, both which she needed desperately. Trisha rubbed her head, brushing away the blood red locks that covered her head. Trying to be help Paige was hard, push her too far and she recedes into her shell. Don’t push her enough and nothing will change about the girl. Trisha had given her a push, a big one. She only prayed that she hadn’t pushed too far and hurt Paige. Taking a deep sigh, she walked off, suddenly needing to have the Terran in her belly right now. She had a similar coping mechanism as Aisha; only the taste of sweet Terran flesh would get her out of her funk. Trisha gave one more glance to Paige’s door, where no sound had been coming from since she pushed Jim in. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Shaking her head, she began to question her own actions. They had been evil, cruel and manipulative.

“Maybe Jim was right, I’m just like that bitch.”

Jim stared at Paige, or more precisely, her back. Paige was lying on her side with her back to Jim, huddled in a ball, trying to make herself small. Jim took a tentative steep towards Paige, concerned that she might be sick or hurt, but as he got closer, she inched away from him. Narrowing his eyes, Jim was sure now that something was wrong.

“Paige, are you alright?” His question was answered by a loud sniff and a low, sad voice mumbling something he couldn’t work out.

“What is it Paige, what’s wrong?” After a moment, she answered

“Don’t look at me, I’m a monster.”

Jim was taken aback by the misery in her voice. It was so strong and profound it left him shell shocked. What was Paige talking about? She wasn’t a monster, she was so far away from being a monster it was silly. He leaned forward, trying to keep his movements undetected. His eyes widened slightly when he caught a large lump protruding from Paige’s chest. It pushed her uniform out nearly a foot and moved with her breath. Understanding hit him immediately and he gave the huddled girl a small sad smile.

Poor sad Paige, her fragile psyche believed he’d connect her eating habits with that of a monster. She was trying to keep him from being hurt by trying to hide her true self. While it was noble of her, it was foolish and hurtful. Did she think he’d judge her because of something wired into her instincts? He never thought of the Ctarl-Ctarl’s eating habits of evil, unless they purposely hurt their prey for amusement, and Jim knew Paige wouldn’t do that. He opened his mouth to tell her this, but stopped himself. Words would fall on deft ears for Paige. What she needed right now was a hug, but with stomach sticking out like that, wrapping his arms around her would be impossible. If that were the case, he’d just have to do the next best thing.

“Roll over,” Jim said calmly, taking a seat beside the frightened girl. At first Paige didn’t move, afraid to face Jim and see the horror in his eyes. Jim waited; knowing that accepting he didn’t care about who she ate was going to be hard for Paige. Her movements were slow, but eventually she rolled over to her back. Paige looked up and felt her heart go aflutter. Jim was staring down at her, a smile on his lips and warmth in his eyes. His hands moved over Paige’s shirt and grasped the edge of her top. Paige’s face grew red as he pulled the stretchy fabric over her protruding belly and let the massive gut wobble out from underneath.

Still keeping eye contact, his hands came down on the brown blob of flab that had become Paige’s stomach. Softly he started rubbing. A warm feeling filled Paige and she gasped. His tiny hands made circles in the soft flesh, moving around it softly, but forcefully. Jim’s hands had mastered the art of belly messages after many nights of giving them to Aisha. He used the skills he’d learned to pinpoint the most sensitive area’s on the stretched belly for the massage. Paige found herself moaning, never before experiencing a belly rub. Jim chuckled, seeing Paige reduced to putty from his actions. His hands worked the belly harder now, massaging it like dough. His fingers sank into the flesh nearly completely disappearing as he pushed down. Gasps and moans escaped Paige’s lips as stars filled her vision. It felt so good that she thought she’d pass out. Continuing to rub the belly, Paige leaned his head forward, whispering into Paige’s ear softly.

“You’re Paige, my friend, not a monster.” He created a mantra of this while he gave her belly the best massage he could. Paige smiled from ear to ear, tars of joy filling her eyes. She couldn’t remember a time she’d felt so happy.